Spud U Like is a chain of restaurants/café’s which serve baked potatoes.. We go out for lunch a few times a week and as we live close to the Metro Centre, it’s one of the places we eat at a lot. I’d say we go to Spud U Like between two and three times a month. You can either eat in or take-out although we always choose to eat in
Location
The branch in Gateshead’s Metro Centre is located in the Blue Mall on the ground floor. If you are coming in from the bus station you need to turn right at Macdonalds and it will be there on the right hand side. If you’re coming from any of the other malls you need to head for the blue mall and keep going straight ahead once you get to the big Burger Kind on the left and you will see it there.
Design/Layout
Spud U Like is bright and airy – much more so than the Newcastle branch which we also visit from time to time. It is also quite clean inside, again compared to the Newcastle branch which is often littered with trays.
The tables have leather(ette?) padded seats down each side and then hard chairs opposite. My fiancé always lets me sit on the comfy seat – if he didn’t there’d be no wedding! The tables are quite small, but just about adequate to fit everything on for two people. High chairs are also available at the front and the main aisle is wide for easy access with a pushchair.
You need to go up and order from the counter – everything is displayed on a board behind the counter. Staff are friendly and it doesn’t usually take long to be served.
Menu
The menu, in my opinion is quite limited. There are nine different toppings and then one special which is usually advertised on a board hanging from the ceiling. The toppings are baked beans, chicken tikka, chilli con carne, grated cheese, coleslaw, cottage cheese, egg mayonnaise, prawn cocktail and tuna and mayonnaise. Personally I would like to see more than that, as there are only three toppings there that I will eat – possibly four, I’m a bit ‘meh’ about coleslaw, but I may try it one day. If you want more than one topping you can do so, and there is also a special meal deal whereby if you order a potato with cheese and beans you can get a garlic bread and a drink at a reduced price.Deserts are also available and include muffins, flapjacks, carrot cake and chocolate fudge cake. Despite the number of times we have eaten there, we’ve never tried the results. You can get a soft drink with your meal – all the usuals – coke, 7up, fanta etc… and a range of hot drinks such as tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
Food
The potatoes always come with a generous amount of topping and they are oven baked rather than microwaved. They come served in a blue polystyrene tray with a green plastic knife and spork (that’s a spoon/fork in one!). I really wish they wouldn’t use the little polystyrene trays, they drive me mad and make cutting the potato really difficult. I usually end up eating the middle of the potato and then the skin afterwards, as if I try to cut the potato skin whilst it still has filling in there is risk of filling flying out everywhere!
The actual potatoes taste really good. They are always well cooked and fluffy inside. The toppings are also good – as I say I can only speak for three of them. The baked beans are really nice, they’re actually weight watchers beans, so low calorie and although I’ve never bought a tin of weight watchers beans, I would in the future based on these. The cheese is a medium cheddar so not too strong, but still flavoursome and isn’t rubbery in its texture. The chicken tikka is also nice, but the chicken is quite obviously processed. Still it’s not too bad in taste and is not overly spicy. My fiancé always gets tuna and sweetcorn and cheese together (is it me or is that a disgusting combination?) and he also has no complaints with the food.
Prices
Prices vary depending on toppings, but generally you will pay around £3-£4 per potato. I have our last receipt here and we spent £4.99 on the cheese and beans potato, which included a free garlic bread and drink. My fiancé had the tuna and mayo which cost £3.09 plus an extra 99p as he added cheese to it. His drink was 7-Up costing £1.19, taking the total bill to £10.26 for two people.
Overall
If you want a quick and healthy lunch, then Spud-U-Like is definitely somewhere I would recommend. The only thing I would like to see improved is a larger choice of toppings…actually I wouldn’t mind if they got rid of those blue polystyrene trays either!!
Just good spuds 
Good lord, that's a well filled spud! Don't think Spud-U-Like exist anymore in London.